GENEVA (25 July 2023) – UN human rights experts* expressed alarm about the recent adoption of amendments to the criminal code in the Republika Srpska entity that re-criminalise defamation and risk to adversely impact freedom of expression in Bosnia and Herzegovina and contribute to a climate of shrinking civic space in the country. “Bosnia and … Continued
Author: Lejla Gačanica In the Commission Opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s application for membership of the European Union, the fifth priority under the democracy area reads: “take concrete steps to promote an environment conducive to reconciliation in order to overcome the legacies of the war”. The EU recognises in this document that the political environment … Continued
Civil society organizations, gathered in the Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, warn of the shortcomings of the Draft Law on Freedom of Access to Information of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 9th session on April 12, 2023. years. … Continued
Author: Denis Čarkadžić In mid-December last year, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was granted candidate status for membership in the European Union (EU). Emphasising the “current geopolitical context”, the Council of the EU underlined in their decision the urgency for BiH to move forward on the EU path, primarily by fulfilling the 14 key priorities for … Continued
The Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of B&H strongly opposes the adoption of the Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska, published on the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Srpska on 03/03/23. The aforementioned amendments, which, among other things, criminalize defamation, are contrary to … Continued
Author: Hata Kujraković The rapporteur of the European Parliament for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paulo Rangel, will soon present to the European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) the draft Resolution on the 2022 Commission Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Every year, the relevant resolutions describe the positions of BiH and other Western Balkans … Continued
Author: Dejan Lučka Last week, Banja Luka hosted a conference entitled “How much freedom we’ll be left with?”. The conference was directly motivated by the announcement of legislative amendments in the Republika Srpska, introducing defamation and insult as criminal offenses, as well as the adoption of a law on fake news and expansion of criminal … Continued
Author: Harun Išerić Attacks and threats against journalists: a brief overview The hotline for journalists, operated by the BH Journalists Association, recorded 70 reported cases of violations of journalist rights and media freedoms in 2021, including 16 cases of physical and verbal attacks and threats. Online space is the dominant source of attacks and threats … Continued
Author: Nedim Kulenović Improving the migration and asylum policy management system is emerging as one of the critical issues on BiH’s path to EU integration. The challenges that the country encountered in 2018-2019, as well as during the pandemic, highlighted all the shortcomings of the current system. These risks remain, and authorities must act quickly … Continued
Author: Sanela Bešić The Western Balkans Prime Ministers adopted the Declaration of Western Balkans Partners on Roma Integration within the European Union (EU) Enlargement Process and regional cooperation in 2019 (the so-called Poznan Declaration). Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has pledged to continue and strengthen efforts for full equality and integration of Roma through the implementation … Continued
The Initiative for Monitoring the European Integration of BiH and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in BiH are organizing a conference on the occasion of receiving the European Commission’s recommendation for granting BiH candidate status. The conference “EU candidate status for BiH: Between merits and expectations” will be held on November 29, 2022 in Sarajevo at … Continued
Author: Amina Hujdur In July 2022, a historic step forward in the fight for the recognition of children born of war[1] was taken when the Brčko District of BiH became the first in Bosnia and Herzegovina to legally recognise children born of wartime rape as civilian victims of war, under the framework of the newly … Continued